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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27955856">The Best Laid Plans</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kantrips/pseuds/Kantrips'>Kantrips</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Office, F/M, Fluff, Humor, Marriage Proposal, One Shot, Still just a big old Rom-Com</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 10:20:49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,619</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27955856</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kantrips/pseuds/Kantrips</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Cullen and Evelyn struggle with meddling family and slowly learn that nothing ever goes as planned. Not the weather, not Midwinter and especially not Cullen’s intention to ask a very specific question.</p><p>A sequel to <em>The Best of Intentions</em> but can be read as a standalone.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Cullen Rutherford/Female Trevelyan, Female Inquisitor/Cullen Rutherford</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>40</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Best Laid Plans</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Evelyn was doing her utmost to ignore her vibrating phone. It was Midwinter Eve and while she was enthusiastic for her forthcoming break, there were about a thousand things she needed to do in the scant final hours of the work day.</p><p>Well, ‘day’ was being generous: it was past 9:00 PM. Dorian had finished midday with absolutely no shame, draping a garland of tinsel over her head as he sauntered past. The rest of her colleagues had filtered out gradually over the course of the afternoon and even Cullen had gone. Evelyn felt she must be the only left in the entire building but the silence helped her focus and she had resolved to stay on until midnight if she had to.</p><p>Her phone began to buzz again and she clenched her eyes closed with a hiss, finally surrendering and fishing it from her bag.</p><p>It was her mother? Ugh. Evelyn entertained the idea of ignoring it but there were four missed calls from the woman already.</p><p>“Hello,” she said, with as little enthusiasm as she felt.</p><p>“Sweetheart I’m at your flat.”</p><p>Evelyn choked on air and made a horrible gagging sound. “What?”</p><p>“Just flew in. Had an absolutely dreadful time finding the place: the streetlighting in this area is awful and I wasn’t expecting it to be such a shabby building. I kept saying to the driver, ‘no <em>my</em> daughter can’t possibly live <em>here</em>. Surely not.’”</p><p>Evelyn was flabbergasted. “I’m not there: I can’t let you in. Why didn’t you let me know…Why didn’t you <em>ask</em> to come? I had no idea…”</p><p>“I’ve already ascertained you’re not at home but I let myself inside.”</p><p>“How!?”</p><p>“Your sister gave me a key.”</p><p>“That was supposed to be for emergencies!”</p><p>“I haven’t seen you in over a year: this is an emergency.”</p><p>“No! It’s not okay Mum. You can’t just…turn up!”</p><p>“I thought you’d be pleased! Some welcome. First I discover you live in a slum and now my own daughter treats me like I’m vermin.”</p><p>“Stop playing the victim.” Evelyn snapped. “If you wanted a welcome you should have called ahead.” It would have given her time to at least muster up some fake courtesy.</p><p>“I <em>am</em> the victim. You’ve been neglecting your family. We’re worried about you.”</p><p>Evelyn took the phone away from her ear, and pressed her face into her scarf for a moment. She wondered if her father had been dragged along for the invasion. “Is it just you?”</p><p>“Just me and the naked man.”</p><p>“The <em>what!?</em> Oh Andraste’s tits! Cullen!”</p><p>“Don’t be vulgar darling. It’s unseemly to use that kind of language. Now, why didn’t you tell me – ”</p><p>But Evelyn had hung up before her mother could finish her sentence. Cullen’s phone didn’t even complete a full ring before he picked up. “Where are you?” Evelyn demanded.</p><p>“Physically? In the bedroom getting dressed. Mentally? Permanently traumatised. Your mother is here.”</p><p>“I know. Oh Maker do I know. Why weren't you wearing any clothes? What was that about? An early Midwinter gift? Because I might be into it but your timing is atrocious!”</p><p>“I was wearing a towel,” Cullen told her in a measured voice. “I was in the shower and heard noises. Realising it couldn’t be you, I went out to investigate. I was concerned it may be an intruder.”</p><p>“It <em>is</em> an intruder! You have my permission to call the police. The temerity of that woman! She has no right to…” Evelyn dissolved into angry spluttering.</p><p>“Evelyn. Take a deep breath.” From anyone else Evelyn would have found that infuriatingly condescending, but she followed the advice and immediately felt slightly more grounded.</p><p>“What did you tell her?”</p><p>“You mean when she finally stopped screaming?” Cullen said drily. “That I thought she had the wrong flat. I assumed I’d left the door unlocked and a neighbour had wandered in by mistake. Then she explained who she was. She has a key Evelyn.”</p><p>“I <em>know</em>. And who did you say – she’s trying to call me again. Who did you say you were?” Evelyn was trying to hastily save and close several documents on her computer, type an ‘out of office’ message for her email, shrug on her coat, wrap her scarf around her neck and pull on her gloves all at the same time without ever removing her phone from her ear. It was not going particularly well.</p><p>“I didn’t linger to make formal introductions. I just excused myself to get dressed.”</p><p>“They don’t know about us. My parents,” she explained though Cullen was well aware that it was a closely guarded secret for Evelyn. “If she asks just tell her you’re my butler. She would actually believe that.”</p><p>“Evelyn.”</p><p>“Yes?”</p><p>“I’m not going to say I’m your butler.”</p><p>Evelyn groaned as she dashed across the office. “Worth a try.” She jabbed at the lift button but nothing was happening. It wasn’t even lighting up. Impatiently she went to the stairwell. “I’m on my way home. Just…don’t leave the bedroom. Barricade the door if you have to.”</p><p>“While that is genuinely tempting, I think we both know I have to go back out there.” He was right but she wished he wasn’t. “Are you getting a taxi? It’s too late to be on the underground and the weather was setting in when I left the gym.”</p><p>“I’ll be fine.” Evelyn said, with every intention of taking the underground. “What are you going to say to her?”</p><p>“I’ll offer to make her a cup of tea. She’s had a shock.”</p><p>Evelyn snorted. “We’ve all had a shock. I’m so sorry.”</p><p>“Don’t apologise. You didn’t know.”</p><p>“I’m not apologising for her turning up and breaking in. I’m apologising in advance for what she might say to you,” she explained, slightly out of breath from half running down the stairs. Cullen sighed. Perhaps his instinct was to reassure her, tell her it couldn’t be all that bad. But he had heard too many stories about her parents to dismiss Evelyn’s concerns and knew better. “Maker she just keeps calling me! Maybe I’ll should tell her to leave. Then you don’t have to speak to her at all. Maybe then I won’t either.”</p><p>“Evelyn. It’s snowing and she’s come a long way to see you.”</p><p>“Don’t you dare feel sorry for her,” Evelyn said warningly.</p><p>“I’m on your side, but sometimes you need to pick your battles.”</p><p>Evelyn let out a petulant whine. “But we were going to have a quiet Midwinter Eve together. Just you and I! And now she’s completely spoiled it.”</p><p>“Were we now?” Cullen said with scepticism. “And what time were you planning on leaving work?”</p><p>“Oh, um…soon,” Evelyn lied and from Cullen’s satisfied hum, that was all the admission of guilt he needed. “And what were <em>you</em> planning on doing until I got back?” she asked suspiciously.</p><p>He hesitated. “I had brought my laptop and was planning to finalise a few –”</p><p>“Ha,” she said triumphantly, cutting him off.</p><p>“Don’t gloat and focus on getting home safely. Message me the number of the taxi once you’re in it. The roads will be icy: tell them to drive slowly.”</p><p>“Stop being such a fusspot.” She had come to the ground level at last and approached the glass sliding doors, her rapid steps faltering as she surveyed the almost unrecognisable streetscape. Everything was white, and buried under mounds of fresh snow which was still falling, thick and fast. She couldn’t make out the path at all. Even though she though she knew the streets around the office like the back of her hand, it was so hard to see she suddenly had no confidence about which direction to even begin setting off in. “Oh no,” she muttered, more to herself than Cullen.</p><p>“What is it?” he asked, immediately concerned.</p><p>“It’s snowed a lot more than I realised. It’s…a bit grim out there.”</p><p>At the other end of the phone, Evelyn heard the sound of the bedroom blind being raised. “Maker Evelyn.”</p><p>She cupped her hands against the glass and pressed her face against it. “I can’t see any taxis out there. I can’t see <em>anything</em>.”</p><p>“I’m not sure it’s safe for you to go out in this.”</p><p>She put her phone on speaker and began scrolling through the notifications she’d been ignoring all afternoon. Severe weather warnings. Train line shutdowns. News reports of a freak storm. “Cullen. I think we’re in trouble.”</p><p>“I’m looking at it too. You have to stay there.”</p><p>“I can’t! You’re trapped with my mother!”</p><p>“That doesn’t matter. It’s too dangerous to leave and there won’t be a single taxi moving in this.”</p><p>“Maybe I can walk…” The wind was whipping flurries of snow up into the air. Evelyn wished she had dressed more warmly. Her shoes weren’t even waterproof.</p><p>“No. This is not a negotiation. It’s not safe and you’re staying,” he told her firmly. She made some disgruntled grumbling noises: in part because he would expect it of her and in part because she always did her best to conceal just how much she secretly delighted in him ordering her around like that. “It’s for the best,” he added to placate her.</p><p>“I don’t know.” She glanced over her shoulder. “It’s kind of spooky here.”</p><p>“You spend the majority of your time in the office and it’s never worried you before.”</p><p>“But it feels different.”</p><p>“Even so it’s safest place to be right now.”</p><p>She knew she didn’t have a choice but Evelyn gazed around the deserted lobby uneasily. “I know Security must still be here but it’s …” she shuddered, and not from the cold. “How am I supposed to stay overnight?”</p><p>“You have heat, running water, and the entire office kitchen filled with those granola bars you’re addicted to. And you can call me as many times as you want, no matter the time. Don’t worry about waking me. You’ll be okay,” he assured her, his voice warm, pulling her back from the tidal currents of her mounting fear.</p><p>“Could you just stop it?” she said peevishly.</p><p>“Stop what?” he asked, sounding perplexed.</p><p>“Being so rational and lovely when I’m trying to freak out over here. It’s making it really hard to successfully have a meltdown,” she joked.</p><p>He chuckled lightly. “I’ll drive to pick you up as soon as I can. Try to make yourself comfortable.”</p><p>“And what about you? And my mother? This is a nightmare honestly.”</p><p>“We’ve been together for three years.”</p><p>“Is that including or excluding the period in which we were pretending to date?”</p><p>“Excluding.”</p><p>“Well I think you should include it.”</p><p>“My point is that maybe it’s time your parents know, whatever the consequences.”</p><p>“You’re probably right.”</p><p>“And I can’t hide in your bedroom forever.”</p><p>“<em>Our</em> bedroom,” she corrected him. He had moved in officially some months ago when his lease had expired but the habit was hard for him to break. His apartment had been bigger and nicer, they both agreed on that, but hers was closer to work. Ideally they would find their own place soon, one they could pick out and make a home of together. Though they talked a lot of possibilities beyond even that, each embarrassed at first as they confessed their daydreams. Evelyn wanted a garden. Cullen wanted a dog…</p><p>It had felt like there was so much to look forward to. Evelyn had been incredibly happy, even that morning when she woke up and the world had been full of promise and her arms had been full of Cullen and they were on the cusp of a week off from work to spend doing whatever they wanted. Which, aside from dragging him out to some obligatory parties, would probably largely involve them staying home in various states of undress.</p><p>Needless to say her mother being in town had not factored into Evelyn’s plans.</p><p>She sniffed, mostly for dramatic effect but there was a tiny bit of genuine distress behind it. “Midwinter is ruined. I just wanted some peace and to spend time with you.”</p><p>“We’ll have plenty of other Midwinters together yet.”</p><p>“You promise?”</p><p>“I do.” Evelyn felt her stomach flutter a little. He said it with so much certainty, how could she be anything but convinced? “I need to explain the situation to your mother. Call me if you need to," he told her then a beat later added more softly, "Or want to. I'll be here."</p><p>Selfishly, she didn’t want him to go, but someone had to break the news to her mum that she was about to become roommates with the boyfriend she didn’t know her daughter had for a night. Evelyn didn’t want to do it and Cullen was volunteering so she was hardly going to object. “Alright. I love you. And just don’t listen to a thing she says.”</p><p>“Stay safe. I love you. Try to rest.”</p><p>The lobby had felt empty before, but without Cullen’s voice at the other end of the phone it seemed completely desolate. Like something from a zombie film. Swallowing back an unexpected surge of self-pity, Evelyn wrapped her arms around herself and blinked rapidly.</p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Perched on the sofa like it was a throne, back straight, chin level, Evelyn’s mother regarded Cullen down the length of her nose like he was a courtier she was about to receive. “Back I see.” She looked him up and down. “And fully clothed. What a remarkable transformation.”</p><p>“I apologise for the manner of our meeting.”</p><p>“From a rudimentary look about this room and the possessions contained within, it appears I should be the one apologising to you. I assume this is also your home I have intruded upon.” Her eyes landed upon a photo stuck to the fridge of Cullen and Evelyn that Varric had taken years ago.</p><p>“It is,” he confessed.</p><p>She sighed. “I should have known it would be something like <em>this</em>,” she looked pointedly at him “when Evelyn refused to come home for Midwinter.”</p><p>“Much has been required of her at work recently,” Cullen explained. “She’s still at work now. As it happens there’s something –” he began to explain.</p><p>“How long has this been going on,” she asked, gesturing at the photo with her chin.</p><p>It did not seem advantageous to lie, but he could at least try to be vague. “Some years.” Evelyn’s mother closed her eyes and visibly shuddered. Cullen inhaled deeply then exhaled very slowly. “We met through work.”</p><p>“And what do you do?”</p><p>“I manage the Finance Department.” The answer did not please her and she made no effort to hide that fact, her lips pursing tightly. But Cullen hadn’t expected to impress her so hardly felt offended by the reaction. “Speaking of our work –” he said, trying again to broach the subject of Evelyn’s predicament.</p><p>She gave him a sharp look. “And is it serious?” Taken aback by the directness of the question, he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “Don’t be indecisive man: it’s a sign of weakness,” she snapped.</p><p>“It is serious.”</p><p>She sighed again, more loudly than before. “Then I suppose you should call me Adelaide. And you are?”</p><p>“Cullen.”</p><p>“Cullen…?”</p><p>“Rutherford.”</p><p>The name evidently didn’t ring a bell and her face dropped. “Do you know why I’m here?”</p><p>It seemed like a trick question. “To see your daughter. Evelyn.”</p><p>“Yes. To see my daughter,” she punctuated this with a quiet, pained noise. “Because she won’t come to see me.” She looked at him to see if he would comment but he provided no sympathy so she forged ahead. “Evelyn would say I’m heartless. I’m sure she has. And no doubt I have been hard on her in the past, but only because she has potential. If you know her at all you must realise that.” Cullen nodded, it seemed like the safest response. “But she’s grown distant. She rarely answers her phone, she never visits, she won’t tell me a thing about her work or friends…” Adelaide was doing a good impression of being wounded but Cullen knew full well the reason that Evelyn kept her distance was because her family was so judgemental. “When she refused our most recent invitation I was unimpressed. I called her to tell her as much.” Cullen recalled that conversation, Evelyn unable to get a word in edgeways over the phone, Adelaide’s voice so loud he could hear it from across the room. “We had such high hopes for her when she was still in school, until she became distracted and threw her life away.” The woman tutted and shook her head.</p><p>“With respect, that’s only your perspective,” Cullen said with a calm that didn’t reflect his state of mind in the slightest.</p><p>She gave him a narrow look. “That didn’t sound particularly respectful young man.”</p><p>Cullen raised an eyebrow. “It has been a long time since anyone accused me of being young.”</p><p>Adelaide smiled, almost imperceptibly. “From my perspective you are. I’ve been furious with Evelyn for so long. She’s always been headstrong.” Cullen could agree with that much, though he loved it about her while Adelaide sounded despairing. “I’m getting old and I’m <em>tired</em>. And do you know what my husband said? The man never so much as pipes up to ask for the salt, wouldn’t call for a glass of water if he was on fire, and out of the blue he tells me: ‘we’re losing her. We’re losing her and it’s your fault.’” A long silence stretched between them. “I could suggest it’s <em>your</em> fault but I know she was well and truly lost before she moved here.” Cullen’s jaw clenched.</p><p>“She’s not lost. She knows exactly what she’s doing.”</p><p>“I beg your pardon?”</p><p>He hadn’t meant to say it. The last thing he wanted to do was speak on Evelyn’s behalf, but he was in neck deep now. “Evelyn is incredibly successful in her career and she is surrounded by people who care about her. She’s happy here. You should be happy for her.”</p><p>He was startled by his own audacity but Adelaide seemed unrattled. “And you’re one of the people who professes to care about her I suppose?” Cullen looked at her with exasperation: he would have thought that should be obvious. “What I am suggesting, Mr Rutherford, is that with the right <em>incentive</em>,” she placed a hand on her purse in an intentional way, “you might be persuaded to move on from Evelyn –”</p><p>“‘Care’ doesn’t begin to cover it: I’m completely in love with her,” Cullen told her sharply. “As long as Evelyn wants me by her side, I will remain there, no matter what.”</p><p>They both stared at each other with mirrored, slightly stunned looks. Cullen could still be uneasy about public displays of affection yet here he was, barking how he felt about Evelyn to her own mother. He had no idea what had come over him. Adelaide was the first to recover. “Your frankness is a credit to you,” she said, sounding almost amused. “Where did you say your family was from? Rutherford…There are some Hemblefords that keep a holiday house in Antiva near ours. I think they have ties to the film industry. Could you be related?”</p><p>“Definitely not,” Cullen told her flatly.</p><p>“A shame.”</p><p>And he only had more bad news. He sat down in the chair opposite her and clasped his hands. “Evelyn can’t make it home tonight.”</p><p>Adelaide recoiled, a sneer forming on her face. “This insolence is unforeseen! Even from her!”</p><p>“You misunderstand. She was trying too, but a bad storm front has blown in unexpectedly They’re saying it’s the worst in a decade. She can’t get back: it’s not safe to move anywhere. For anyone.” He gave Adelaide a significant look but she remained uncomprehending. “I suggest you will need to remain here until the weather clears.”</p><p>Adelaide gazed around the small flat with undisguised horror and revulsion. Cullen rose and opened the living room blind so she could see the extent of the weather herself. “Well,” she said. “And Evelyn? Is she…?”</p><p>“She’s safe, though has no option but to shelter at the office for the night. I’m afraid there’s only one bedroom,” he gestured in the direction of it. He had at least had the foresight to change the sheets while he was getting dressed. “I’ll sleep out here,” he clarified.</p><p>Adelaide looked out the window a moment longer, then spent some time consulting her phone, perhaps hoping to prove him wrong or find an escape route. After she had apparently exhausted all avenues she said reluctantly, “It seems I will be forced to accept your hospitality. It seems as if I will be forced to accept a lot of things, moving forward.” Her lips tightened again and she gave him another assessing look.</p><p>Cullen cleared his throat. “I’ll put the kettle on.”</p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Instinctively, Evelyn meandered back upstairs to her own desk. Or at least, she did once she had wiped off as much of her makeup as she could and gone to the kitchen to fill her pockets with snacks. But then she went to her desk which was in the middle of a huge, open plan office. It was not in any way cosy. In fact, without the bustle of her colleagues and the comforting presence of Dorian opposite her, it was downright unpleasant. To ward off the eeriness, she tried putting her headphones in with some upbeat music, but that left her feeling too vulnerable, like someone could sneak up on her. Sensing that this setup wasn’t going to work, she grabbed her water bottle and pondered on a better option.</p><p>Of course the answer was obvious. The Finance Department was in darkness and while she had no idea where the light switch was, Evelyn had crossed the floor to Cullen’s office so many times she could have done it with her eyes shut.</p><p>Praying the door wasn’t locked she breathed a sigh of relief when the handle gave and it swung open. She flicked on the light and assessed the floorspace, quickly deciding that if she was going to sleep, behind his desk would be the best spot. At least that way she wouldn’t feel so exposed.</p><p>He had a spare coat on the back of his chair and she took it, gratefully wrapping it around herself. She wasn’t cold, but it was comforting and smelled of his aftershave, oakmoss and elderflower, like walking through the woods after rain.</p><p>She wondered how Cullen was managing with her mother and grimaced. Was it too early to call him again? She didn’t want to seem too pathetic but if there was ever a moment she felt like she needed to hear his reassuring, steady voice it was right now.</p><p>Morosely, Evelyn flopped down in his chair, and unwrapped a chocolate, still feeling too wired to even contemplate sleeping. His desk was busy with papers though still much neater than hers. There was definitely a system in place. She put her chocolate wrapper on his keyboard just to annoy him. Personal items were few and far between, but the plant she had given him was there and growing well. It was obvious he went to some pains to care for it. And so he should: she’d be upset if he let it die. Or at least she would pretend to be, just to enjoy him consoling her.</p><p>The day she had given him the plant was the day they had officially become a couple. The end of a painful, protracted period of confusion when she had been about to lose all hope. It had seemed impossible they might be able to come together when all the time they had spent in one another’s company prior to that had been so complicated and messy. But even so she smiled now to think of it. The nearly disastrous meal at the restaurant with Mia, him defeatedly bringing her soup, the dance at the wedding…her heart still fluttered a little just recalling that last one.</p><p>And there was the questionnaire she had made him fill out…something tugged at the edge of her memory.  About how here in this very office, she had asked about the top drawer of his desk and he had made a joke of concealing it from her, intentionally frustrating her curiosity. She glanced at the relevant drawer, biting her bottom lip. The key wasn’t in the lock but Cullen was too logical to think of a truly creative hiding place.</p><p>Evelyn got up, suddenly energised, and rattled his pen holder, lifted his phone, flicked through the shelves of his document manager. When that turned up nothing she groped around under the desk and in about three seconds discovered a hook, the key dangling from it invitingly. She shouldn’t…</p><p>She did.</p><p>Pulling the drawer open slowly so as to not disturb its contents too much, Evelyn eagerly peered in. But the triumphant expression immediately fell from her face.  There was spare stationary, a folder of what were obviously documents relating to his employment and nothing else.</p><p>Boring. Honestly though, she didn’t know what she had been expecting. She leaned back as far as she could, tipping the chair in a way she was sure Cullen would have complained was hazardous. And it was only from that angle she noticed something else in the drawer, tucked away right in the back corner. A small box.</p><p>Without thinking, she reached for it, her fingers brushing against velvet and her heart stuttering before she could even fully see it. Evelyn held it in her palm, cautious of it and watching it closely as if it might scamper off and disappear.</p><p>She remained like that for a long time, blinking, staring, feeling irrationally frightened of it. Maybe he kept a spare watch at the office? She wouldn’t put it past him. Or if it was a gift it might be earrings? Maker, it might be a very fancy container of breath mints for all she knew. Whatever it was, she shouldn’t look. Under any circumstances. It would be totally wrong, a complete betrayal of his trust.</p><p>She flicked open the box with her thumb, let out a desperate keening sound like a puppy locked in a laundry, and covered her face with her hand.</p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>“Evelyn,” Cullen said with no small amount of relief. She hadn’t answered his call ten minutes ago and even now she had let it ring almost entirely out.</p><p>“Hey stranger,” she replied, her voice unusually subdued.</p><p>“What happened? What’s wrong?” he asked automatically.</p><p>“Apart from me being here: trapped at the office, and you being there: trapped with my mother on Midwinter Eve? Nothing at all.” She sounded strained and a little hoarse.</p><p>“Were you asleep?”</p><p>“No such luck.”</p><p>“Your mother is.”</p><p>“Ugh,” was all Evelyn responded with.</p><p>“It’s a relief,” he admitted.</p><p>“It must have been a difficult conversation.”</p><p>“It wasn’t as bad as I was expecting,” he told her, adding: “Truly!” when she scoffed. “You’re…not like her at all.”</p><p>“You have no idea how incredibly happy it makes me to hear you say that.”</p><p>“Obviously you didn’t get your sense of humour from her.”</p><p>“I hope I didn’t get <em>anything</em> from her. I’m just shocked she wasn’t more rude to you. She can’t possibly approve of us.” He cleared his throat slightly and Evelyn became suspicious. “Tell me,” she ordered.</p><p>“I can’t be certain, but she may have offered me money to leave you.”</p><p>“Did you accept?” Evelyn asked, bluntly and without missing a beat.</p><p>“No! Of course not!” Conscious Adelaide was asleep nearby he lowered his voice. “Evelyn, I would never even <em>consider</em> it. How could you ask?”</p><p>“What a shame. You could have taken the money and we could have carried on anyway. It would have really vexed her.”</p><p>He groaned but couldn’t help but smile. “You’re impossible.”</p><p>“I know I am. I don’t know how you put up with me.”</p><p>“Easily and with pleasure.”</p><p>“Hm.” Cullen thought she sounded unconvinced and frowned, wondering at her strange mood.</p><p>“Are you comfortable? Did you have something to eat?”</p><p>“Yes: hot tea and a disgusting number of those mini chocolate bars. I’ve left wrappers scattered all over your desk. You’ll be appalled.”</p><p>“I’ll recover from it,” he laughed. “You went to my office,” he added approvingly.</p><p>“I thought it was the best option.”</p><p>“I agree.”</p><p>“And I have your coat. It might get a bit creased.”</p><p>“I’m glad you have it. You’re not too cold?”</p><p>“No. Are you comfortable on the sofa?”</p><p>“It’s better than I remembered,” he told her and she didn’t reply. “Are you still there?” he asked gently.</p><p>“Yep,” she said, her voice cracking a little.</p><p>“Are you sure you’re alright? You sound…” Unwell. He thought she sounded unwell.</p><p>“I’m fine.”</p><p>“I wish I believed you.” He was properly apprehensive now. How would the emergency services reach her if she needed an ambulance? Should he try and get to her tonight after all? The roads hadn’t been cleared but he might make it on foot.</p><p>“No. Please don’t feel bad for me. Anything but that,” she implored.</p><p>“Of course I feel bad for you: this is a horrendous set of circumstances.”</p><p>“Really. I’m okay. I’ve just been thinking.”</p><p>“About what?”</p><p>“Wishing I was a better person. I’m really sorry,” she said quietly.</p><p>“What in Thedas are you sorry for? Evelyn, what’s this about?” He was perplexed, and only growing increasingly worried.</p><p>“Nothing.” She let out a shaky sigh. “I just love you. So much.”</p><p>“I love you too and I’ll be there as soon as I can,” he assured her, baffled by how emotional she sounded. This whole ordeal was horrible, but it didn’t fully explain how vulnerable and upset she seemed.</p><p>“I know.” He wasn’t sure which part of his statement that was in response to: perhaps both. “It’s been a very long day, even before all of this. I think I will just try and sleep.”</p><p>Tamping back his surprise Cullen made an affirmative noise. He had rather expected she would want to keep him on the line a while longer given how anxious she had sounded when first facing the prospect of being alone in the massive office building overnight. But then again, he understood how tired she must be. “Goodnight. Sleep…” it felt absurd to say ‘well’.</p><p>“If I can? Yeah, you too. Goodnight.”</p><p>She hung up quickly and Cullen fell back onto the sofa and stared up at the dark ceiling, brow furrowed in concern. He knew she’d be alright: she was tougher than people gave her credit for. But she had sounded even more stressed than earlier and just overall…odd. Their conversations were never usually so stilted. It made him uneasy. And what was the sudden apology and self-deprecation for? Something to do with her mother turning up?</p><p>Clearly laying awake fretting over it wouldn’t help her. Maker willing, the weather would ease overnight and he would get to her as soon as the roads were cleared. And once her mother was gone they’d laugh about this. He could almost picture Evelyn dramatically retelling the whole saga to their friends and smiled faintly. Things would be back to normal soon.</p><p>But what he wouldn’t have given to be with her at that moment, and to hold her close until she felt better and sounded more like herself again. His heart ached.</p><p>Cullen checked his phone definitely wasn’t silenced so that he would hear if Evelyn did call him and then wriggled to try and get comfortable on a sofa that he couldn’t even fully stretch out on. Though how could he possibly even contemplate complaining of being uncomfortable given Evelyn’s situation?</p><p>He yawned, covering his mouth with the back of his hand, checked his phone wasn’t silenced again (just in case) and closed his eyes, still thinking of Evelyn. Alone on the floor of his office, curled up under his desk with only a meagre coat for padding.</p><p>Evelyn…alone in his office…his desk…his <em>desk</em>.</p><p>Cullen’s eyes snapped open and he sat bolt upright with a surge of adrenaline.</p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>It was morning and Evelyn burst through the doors the second she spotted Cullen's car pull up, tromping and slipping a little comically through the snow in her eagerness to reach him. Eager himself, Cullen got out to greet her, even though he had parked in a no stopping zone. This was uncharacteristically rebellious of him but there wasn’t another vehicle in sight and well, this couldn’t wait. Evelyn laughed with delight just to see him and not for the first time, Cullen contemplated how it was the most wonderful sound he had ever heard in his life.</p><p>He strode towards her, catching her as she threw herself against him, raising her off the ground in a tight embrace as if they had been apart for weeks, not hours.</p><p>“Maker I’ve missed you,” she breathed into his ear, adding to the impression there had been a long separation. He felt her lips press against the side of his face and he lowered her to her feet so he could kiss her properly, though it was clumsy, their faces wind chilled and half numb.</p><p>“Happy Midwinter,” he told her and she laughed.</p><p>“It is now you’re here to rescue me.”</p><p>“I’m relieved you’re safe,” he said, frowning slightly as he brushed back stray hairs from her forehead, looking her over carefully for any sign of illness or injury. But she was well: rosy cheeked from the wind and smiling though he felt her begin to shiver against him. “Let me take you home.”</p><p>“<em>Please</em>,” she said.</p><p>The ground was slippery and she was wearing her work shoes so he offered his arm, helping her back to the car.</p><p>“Your mother requests our company for dinner tonight,” he informed her as they buckled their seatbelts.</p><p>He turned on the ignition and Evelyn gratefully stretched out her fingers towards the heating vents. “Both of us? You must have made a good impression.”</p><p> “It didn’t feel like I did.</p><p>“That’s normal. I’ve never pleased her once in my entire life.”</p><p>They set off, but almost immediately stopped at a set of traffic lights even though the entire area was abandoned and there weren’t any other cars at the intersection. “She made a kind of tutting noise at everything I did or at anything I offered her,” Cullen said. Evelyn did a perfect impression. “Yes, that’s the one. And she watched on with a kind of horrified fascination as I made her an omelette this morning.”</p><p>“She was probably worried I had asked you to poison it.”</p><p>The lights changed and they set off again. “The thought didn’t cross my mind but I was nevertheless impressed she actually risked eating it.”</p><p>“I think you have a weird sort of power over her in a way now,” Evelyn mused, with a touch of smug self-satisfaction.</p><p>“How so?”</p><p>“In any other circumstance she would have just…dismissed you. But she burst into <em>your</em> home, and she was forced to accept <em>your</em> hospitality or be cast out into a snowstorm. My mother is not a nice woman but there is something of a code of etiquette that she adheres to. And you’ve put her in a bit of a tight spot: now she’ll feel indebted, at least for a time.”</p><p>“That wasn’t my intention. I made her breakfast; I didn’t save her life.”</p><p>“Nonetheless it’s a real advantage and with my parents, those are few and far between. How was she when you left?”</p><p>“I drove her to her hotel on the way here.”</p><p>“She isn’t waiting for me to get back?” Evelyn said with disbelief.</p><p>“She was eager to get to her own accommodation as I understand. It was subtle, but she did describe our home as ‘pokey’, ‘dreary’, ‘claustrophobic’ and ‘primitive’ amongst other things so I got the impression she wasn’t particularly comfortable there.”</p><p>“Poor woman. How she must have suffered enduring such a hovel for even one night.”</p><p>“Well it is north facing…” he reminded her and Evelyn let out a tired sounding laugh.</p><p>“Yes dear,” she said with exaggerated patience, “So you have mentioned. I will leave you entirely in charge of checking building orientations when we search for a new flat.”</p><p>He let out a satisfied noise and she laughed fondly before they lapsed into silence.</p><p>Evelyn thought Cullen seemed more thoughtful than usual as he drove, even with the extra concentration required for the slightly treacherous road conditions. She studied his profile for a minute, noting a slight tension in his jaw.</p><p>“What are you thinking about? You look disgruntled,” she finally asked.</p><p>“You stayed in my office last night.” He turned his head and gave her a brief but deliberate look.</p><p>“Yes.” Evelyn was surprised he was bringing it up again.</p><p>“Hm.” For a while it seemed he was going to leave it at that but some minutes later, and in a completely measured voice, he asked, “Did you look in the drawer?”</p><p>“Oh!” Evelyn started guiltily, jerking against her seatbelt. “Yes,” she confessed without hesitation, voice faint. “I could never lie well enough to convince you I didn’t, even if I wanted to. Yes, I looked.”</p><p>“I thought you probably had,” he replied calmly.</p><p>“You know me too well. But I promise I don’t usually snoop through your belongings. I don’t know what came over me, being so invasive. I was just thinking about the…” It felt stupid to say it aloud.</p><p>“The questionnaire,” he finished for her with a brief laugh. “I remember.”</p><p>Evelyn’s cheeks felt hot and she placed a hand over her forehead. “I was going to leave you a silly note, maybe take your favourite pen hostage. I didn’t mean to actually pry. It was so unforgivably thoughtless of me.”</p><p>“Don’t. I’m not upset. It was a foolish place to keep it.” They were both speaking so calmly, he noted, and doing an exceptionally good job of talking about what was in the drawer without <em>actually</em> talking about what was in the drawer. “I didn’t expect…” he trailed off</p><p>“A freak snowstorm, my mother turning up and me discovering the ring before you had a chance to propose?”</p><p>“In summary: yes,” he agreed his lips quirking into a reluctant smile. She was as forthright as ever after all. He reached to shift gears and hoped she didn’t see his hand shake. “Do you think anything will ever go to plan for us?”</p><p>“Probably not. But things still usually work out, one way or another.”</p><p>“They do.” Thank the Maker.</p><p>She squirmed in her seat. “It was a good hiding spot actually. I don’t think there was anywhere in the flat you could have kept it.”</p><p>“No, I thought the same.”</p><p>“I wasn’t going to say anything about it,” she told him, trying to sound casual, keeping her voice light even as her pulse thudded in her ears. “I know it doesn’t necessarily mean...And we've talked about..." She waved her hand vaguely. "But I understand this doesn't mean you were planning to…anytime soon.” She didn’t want him to feel pressured into doing anything he hadn’t intended to do.</p><p>Cullen cleared his throat. “I was going to ask you this week.” Evelyn’s heart was suddenly in her throat. Cullen’s might have stopped completely but by some miracle, he managed to continue speaking. “When we were driving back from the lunch Dorian is hosting. I was going to tell you there was something I needed to collect from work and I knew you’d come up with me.”</p><p>“You were going to propose to me in your office?” She asked, trying not to sound sceptical. It was true they’d enacted quite a lot of non-work-related activities in his office but this was on another level.</p><p>“Maker, it sounds dreadful when you put it like that. Not my office, no. The stairwell where we first…”</p><p>“Conspired to pretend to date then later actually started dating?” she filled in.</p><p>“I don’t know why I thought that was a good idea. It felt right. Or I thought it did.”</p><p>“It <em>does</em> feel right.” Her stomach churning and a little worried she might start crying, Evelyn swallowed rapidly.</p><p>“You’re just being kind. It seems ridiculous to say it out loud. I beg you not to think of it again. It was an unworthy plan.”</p><p>“Yes,” Evelyn said decisively.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Yes, I accept your proposal,” she clarified.</p><p>Cullen stalled the car, something he hadn’t done since he had first learned to drive decades earlier. “I haven’t actually asked you,” he choked out.</p><p>“Have you changed your mind?”</p><p>“Maker no!” He was gripping the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles had gone white. Fearing for their lives he pulled over, the action giving him a moment to compose himself. Finally able to look at her properly, he met Evelyn’s fretful gaze with his own. “Since I met you, I’ve…You’re the first…I had things planned that I wanted to say but suddenly I can’t…I can’t believe we’re having this conversation in a car,” he finished, glancing out the front windshield.</p><p>“Just keep going. Please,” Evelyn reach towards him, fingers grazing lightly against stubble as she turned his face back towards her. He reached for her hand, kissed the palm then held it in his, hearing her sigh slightly as he did.</p><p>“When I think about the future, a hundred different scenarios, you are the only thing that is constant. You are the only thing that matters.” He gave her a look so unambiguously tender that Evelyn’s breath hitched and she pulled her hand back from his to brush it lightly over her throat. “Evelyn. I love you. I want to marry you, if you'll have me,” he managed with just the slightest edge of desperation.</p><p>“<em>Now</em> can I say yes?” she asked breathlessly, staring at him, eyes wide and unblinking.</p><p>“Please do,” Cullen replied, voice strained.</p><p>“Yes!” She tried to throw herself at him, was yanked back by her seatbelt, fought desperately with the buckle for a moment, then finally closed the distance between them. “Yes. <em>Yes.</em> I will. Of course I will you fool,” she said, in between peppering frantic kisses all over his face.</p><p>Cullen felt a dampness on his cheeks and realised she was crying. “Tears Evelyn?” he asked with surprised concern, gently brushing at them with his thumbs. She had never cried in front of him before and he wasn’t sure if this was a good sign, even though she was smiling so broadly her eyes were nearly closed.</p><p>“I’m happy,” she reassured him, even as her voice cracked. “No. I’m absolutely blissful.”</p><p>He pulled her face towards his, bringing their lips together firmly. Evelyn made a little whimpering noise, clambered over the centre console and into his lap. Her arms snaked around his neck as he groped for any part of her he could reach in the awkward confines of the car. Finding her waist, he pulled her closer. Her lips moved against his fervently and with impatient need that matched his own: they truly might have been apart for weeks.</p><p>Evelyn braced her hands on his shoulders and pushed herself up to better angle herself and deepen the kiss. Cullen let out a guttural noise in response and took her bottom lip lightly between his teeth. Evelyn felt lightheaded, like she needed to breathe. She turned her head and their lips broke apart, too soon for Cullen’s liking. He began to tug at her scarf, loosening it, and Evelyn laughed breathlessly. He took the opportunity to kiss her neck, just once and pulled back in time to see her eyes flutter closed as she automatically tilted her chin up to give him better access. But his lips twitched in a smug smile she could not see and he abandoned the thin skin of her throat, instead pushing open her unbuttoned coat, groping underneath it for any access to her skin only to find himself completely frustrated by layer after layer of fabric.</p><p>Perplexed, Evelyn opened her eyes, looking down to watch him struggle. He finally settled on cupping her breast, a little ridiculously through the infuriating obstruction of her bulky winter clothing.  “We’re in public,” she reminded him drily but he noted she didn’t actually attempt to get off him. In fact, she only shifted slightly, which, given she was straddling him, hardly deescalated matters.</p><p>“And yet you persist with that,” he said, half accusing, half amused.</p><p>“Doing what? This?” she asked innocently and shifted again, rolling her hips against his more intentionally this time.</p><p>Cullen ran his fingers deliberately slowly up the nape of her neck and her scalp before twining them in her hair and taking hold of a loose fistful as if to keep her in place. Evelyn shivered though she wasn't even slightly cold. “It’s Midwinter morning. And no one will be out in this weather.” Her eyes slipped from his to look around them, only to find the windows were completely fogged up. To convince her, or perhaps distract her, Cullen pressed his lips against the thudding pulse in the hollow of her throat, then slowly trailed his mouth up her neck, along her jaw and breathed in her ear, “We’re completely alone.”</p><p>It worked. She leaned back with a quiet moan, mumbled something that might have been, “Not fair,” and began making a clumsy attempt on the top button of his coat. It was quiet except for their erratic breathing and the rasping of fabric as they moved against one another, so the sudden, incredibly loud honking noise made them both jump out of their skins and cling to each other.</p><p>Evelyn was frozen in place and Cullen had to reach up and loosen her arms from around his neck before he was asphyxiated. “I think you’ve successfully located the horn darling. Well done,” he explained when she still looked shellshocked and confused. She climbed off him clumsily and heaved herself back into her own seat, breathing heavily.</p><p>“Maybe that was for the best,” she said stiffly and he chuckled in a low way that prompted an unconvincing glare from her as she smoothed down her clothes and readjusted her scarf. “We should probably go home,” she advised with a little urgency and they both simultaneously and silently thanked the Maker that her mother wasn’t still there. He turned the car back on and they had to wait a moment for the fogged-up windows to clear. She reached for his hand while they did, and they sat in contented silence like that, Cullen just as glad for the opportunity to let his head clear before he drove as well as the windshield.</p><p>But something was still bothering him. He pulled his hand free of hers, checked the mirrors, indicated, pulled into a random driveway, backed out and immediately started driving back in the direction they had just come from.</p><p>“What are you doing?” Evelyn asked curiously, even suspiciously.</p><p>“We’re going back,” he told her resolutely. “I’m going back for the ring.”</p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Mia was cutting the potatoes for the roasting tin as Branson’s toddler tugged urgently on her apron looking for sweets. She indulged him and ruffled his fine hair affectionately. She hadn’t noticed until now, but Rosalie had completely abandoned the task she had been assigned of setting the dinner table. There were no glasses out, half the settings were missing cutlery and there were crackers all over the floor where the box had been dropped.</p><p>“Rosalie?” she called out, taking her nephew by the hand and venturing to find her. “The vegetables are about to go in the oven could you please finish –” She cut herself off when she realised her sister was on the phone, leaning on the window sill next to the garishly decorated tree.</p><p>Rosalie met her eye, gave her a strangely frenzied look and gestured wildly with her free hand. Mia responded with a confused shrug, hoping it wasn’t bad news. A moment later, Rosalie’s mouth dropped open and she began to scream. Mia, who was well acquainted with her sister’s animated ways of expressing herself, knew that this was a happy scream, not one of despair or terror, so she waited it out impassively with folded arms.</p><p>“When!?” Rosalie demanded of the person on the other end of the line. “Today!? Midwinter? How <em>romantic</em>!” She punctuated this with another squeal as Branson, hearing the kerfuffle, also joined them.</p><p>“Who is it?” Mia asked Rosalie, more than a little intrigued now.</p><p>“How did he do it?” Rosalie asked the person on the phone then mouthed <em>‘Evelyn’ </em>and Mia gasped and put a hand over her mouth. Branson shot her a meaningful look, his eyes lighting up. Rosalie’s brow furrowed and she shook her head at Mia. “What do you mean you won’t tell me? Why not? No, I won’t be disappointed. I promise! I’m just so happy for you. I really want to know. Need to know actually. It truly wouldn’t matter how he – Please do.” Rosalie regarded her siblings and advised them, “She’s putting Cullen on.”</p><p>“And? Are they engaged?” Mia asked urgently. Rosalie grinned and nodded slowly doing a thumbs up with her free hand. Branson let out a whoop and he picked up his child and spun him around. Mia smiled so hard she thought her face might crack in two, clasping her hands together in front of her chest.</p><p>“Brother dearest!” Rosalie greeted Cullen and his groan at the other end of the line was audible even to Mia and Branson. “Evelyn said she won’t tell me how you proposed because she doesn’t want me to be mad at you. Congratulations by the way. But what does that mean? Disappointed how? What did you do? <em>Throw</em> the ring at her?” Rosalie let out a short laugh at her own joke before continuing to pester Cullen. “No. Tell me. Please tell me. Tell me. Tell me. Cullen. Tell me. Well I’ll just call back if you do. I’ll call back so often that you have to change your phone number and then I’ll find out your new number and then I’ll call that too and I’ll call you at work and I’ll email you and – uh huh, go on then.”</p><p>“Poor Cullen,” Mia whispered to Branson who just shrugged.</p><p>“I’m curious too. Don’t pretend you aren’t.”</p><p>“Shush,” Mia told him.</p><p>“WHAT!?” Rosalie shrieked in outrage and Branson’s son began to squall in alarm. Branson quickly vacated the room, bouncing him.</p><p>“Rosalie,” Mia admonished her sister, but Rosalie wasn’t paying her the slightest bit of attention.</p><p>“You proposed in a CAR!? Driving back from the OFFICE!? By ACCIDENT? And without a <em>ring?</em>” she said the final word in a hiss. Mia put a hand over her mouth to conceal her laughter. She didn’t know if she was more amused by Cullen’s proposal (the manner of which didn’t surprise her in the slightest) or by her sister’s outrage. “And she actually said yes?” Rosalie asked in disbelief. “I can’t even speak to you right now I’m so disappointed in you. Please tell Evelyn I apologise on your behalf. The poor woman. Does she know she could do better? Well if you won’t tell her I will. I can’t believe you Cullen you’re a DISGRACE – Here, talk to Mia. I need to pour myself a drink. Congratulations and you should be ASHAMED of yourself!”</p><p>Mia reached for the phone, her joyous laughter unrepressed now. She loved Midwinter, she loved her family, and she hadn’t thought the day could get any better but it <em>had</em>.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So here is the sequel to <em>The Best of Intentions</em> I meant to write three years ago. Yup. Threeeeee whole years....oops. :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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